Lanna's Tennis Challenge?
by Angel Peach Blossom
Summary: On a clear and sunny day, Lanna waits at Meadow Island for her opponent to show. Nervousness creeps in... why did she have to lie about her tennis abilities? Entry in the Village Square contest.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Harvest Moon.

**AN: This is another entry for the Village Square contest, which is Dreams this time.**

Chelsea sighed softly as she sat down on the fluffy pink covers of Lanna's bed. She closed her ocean blue eyes and rubbed her forehead with one of her hands. After shaking her head a couple of times, she opened up her eyes and looked up at Lanna, who happened to be standing in front of her.

The blond gave her friend a curious look. "What's wrong, Chelsea?"

"I just can't believe you did that," the rancher answered.

At first, Lanna looked confused, as though she didn't know what Chelsea was talking about. Just then her brown eyes widened a bit. "You mean, about the interviews?"

"That's it exactly," the brunette agreed. "I can't believe you would say something like that."

"B… but people wouldn't expect a pop star to go fishing…" Lanna murmured.

"That's not an excuse, Lanna," Chelsea told her friend. "You should never lie about things, especially on something that would be seen by many people!"

As many of the islanders of Sunshine Islands knew, Lanna was an idol singer. She came to the islands in order to take a much needed break, and consider how she should make a comeback in her singing career. The blonde was also known for her love of fishing, as she was usually seen at Sprout Island's beach on nice days with her fishing rod.

But it seemed only the people who lived there knew about her love for it. According to Lanna, she had many interviews up until the day she came here, and of course one of the questions was on her favorite hobbies. And fishing never came up. Instead, she would say that she loved to play tennis, and was in fact very good at it.

"I thought I could trust you with this, since we are becoming close friends," Lanna told her friend, trying not to get too defensive. "I don't see what the big deal is!"

"The big deal is that you lied about it, Lanna," Chelsea explained as she stood up. She crossed her arms over her chest. "By now, I'm sure all of your fans think of you as this great tennis player, and yet you haven't even picked up a racket!"

"I still don't see the problem," Lanna said, a small smile forming on her lips. It looked like an innocent smile, one that you might see on someone who was oblivious to the matter at hand.

Chelsea sighed softly and lowered her head. "Well… you never know. The fact that you lied about this could get you into trouble."

"Don't be such a worrywart, Chelsea!" Lanna giggled, as though there was something funny in what the rancher just said. "I'm sure there will be no problems. No one should even know I'm here anyway!"

"You mean aside from your manager?" Chelsea inquired. "Didn't she come not long ago to check on you? If she could find you here, who knows who else could find you?"

Before Lanna could say anything else, a knocking sound could be heard from the front door. Grateful to get away from the situation, she turned and walked on the light carpeted floor over to the door. She playfully wondered if it was Denny or Mark, coming to see if she wanted to do some fishing with them.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to discover that someone she didn't recognize was standing in front of her. The newcomer wore a white shirt, with a red and white checkered skirt. Her hair was light brown and in a ponytail that went down a little passed her shoulders.

"Who are you?" the pop star asked, tilting her head.

The girl gave Lanna a friendly smile. "My name is Elise," she answered. "Are you Lanna? I mean, are you really Lanna, the Pop Star?"

Despite the fact that Lanna had been hiding out on the islands for a while, she smiled and nodded her head. "Yep, that's me!"

Elise's smile widened as she as she held out her hand. It didn't take long for Lanna to understand what the other girl was doing, and she accepted her hand and shook it. Nearby, Chelsea was looking from the hall, peeking from behind one of the pink walls with a troubled expression on her face.

"I'm glad I finally found you," Elise told the idol. "I just arrived on the island today, and I heard people talking about you. It is an honor to finally meet you!"

Lanna smiled happily when she heard the other girl's words. "I see. Are you here for an autograph?"

"That would be nice, but to be honest, I have a better idea." With her grin firmly in place, the newcomer lowered her hand. "I've played tennis ever since I was little. And I've been reading in the many interviews that I have seen of you that you are quite the tennis player yourself."

"Yes, I did say that," Lanna agreed with a nod of her head. She had no idea what the other girl was getting at.

"Well, I was thinking that we should have a match," Elise went on. "Nothing major mind you, just a friendly competition."

At the mention of a tennis match, Lanna realized what was going on. And she was sort of beginning to see what Chelsea was getting at earlier. Of course, she assumed that she didn't have to worry about anyone finding her. In fact, being asked to play a game of tennis was something she never expected when she answered the interviews!

"I'm sure that considering your skills, it would be a match to remember," Elise went on.

"Yeah, that's true," the pop idol agreed, nodding her head quickly without thinking about it.

Assuming that Lanna was agreeing to the match, Elise nodded her head. "In that case, we'll have our tennis match tomorrow!"

Chelsea groaned silently and pulled her head back. She couldn't believe that Lanna was going through with this! Unable to keep listening in to the conversation, Chelsea went back into her friend's room. It didn't take her long to notice the dresser nearby. While it did have the usual clothes, it also had something quite unique in them; fishing rods.

Without having to think about it, the brunette moved over to the dresser and picked up one of the poles. She looked it over carefully, and could see that someone had put a lot of effort into making it. With a nod of her head, she took the rod with her, over to Lanna's bed.

By the time Chelsea sat back down, Lanna appeared with this huge grin on her face. "You'll never believe who was at the door, Chelsea! Her name is Elise and she says that she is one of my biggest fans! We set up a tennis match down at Meadow Island for tomorrow at noon."

"I know about the tennis match," the rancher informed her friend. Although she didn't hear Elise say she was Lanna's biggest fan though, she assumed that Elise said what she did in order to butter the idol up and agree to the whole thing. "I don't think you should be doing this. You don't know how to play tennis!"

"That's true, but everything will be fine!" Lanna assured.

"No, it won't," Chelsea insisted. "All you are going to do is make a fool out of yourself. And a lot of people are going to get upset and angry at you for lying."

"You're thinking too much into this," the pop star replied. "I'm sure it is nothing to worry about!"

The rancher shook her head, and by this point, was tired of arguing with her friend. It didn't seem like she was getting anywhere, and the consequences of her lie wasn't even sinking in. As she stood up, she placed the rod on Lanna's bed. "Fine, whatever you say, Lanna. Just don't expect things to go as you expect them to."

Before Lanna could respond, Chelsea turned around and left the room, leaving her alone. As she looked toward her bed, she noticed the fishing pole that her friend had been holding. A rod that was so precious to her, because it was made by her grandfather.

As soon as she saw it, she started feeling less sure about the situation.

* * *

><p><em>The next day came pretty quickly, and it turned out to be quite nice. The weather was clear and the birds were chirping. There was also a big crowd on Meadow Island, waiting for the match to begin.<em>

_Lanna was standing with a racket in her hand, waiting for Elise to show up. She didn't know why, but she was starting to feel nervous. Her palms were sweaty and it was difficult to keep a firm grip on her racket. She wiped her forehead with her one of her hands, and felt more and more anxious as time went on. She was wearing a tennis uniform similar to Elise's, except that her skirt was green checkered, and she was wearing her green headband._

_All around her, she could hear voices from the crowd. Some she recognized as members of the islands. They commented on how they never knew she liked to play tennis, and they were rooting for her. Even 'Vaughnie' was cheering for her. Which despite how odd that was, since he would most likely never do such a thing, it still didn't help the feeling that she was getting in her stomach._

_And the other voices that she heard didn't help matters either. Some of the things she heard reminded of her of when she was on stage, singing to everyone. Cries of "I love you, Lanna!" could be heard, along with "You're the best, Lanna!"_

_However, there was one person who wasn't cheering. It was her good friend, Chelsea. She expected her to be mad, but instead, she just looked sad. Either way it didn't matter, because she knew why she was looking like that. _

_After a few more minutes of waiting, Elise finally showed up. "Sorry for the wait," she said as she climbed out of Kirk's motorboat. "I was just preparing myself for the match." She walked over to Lanna and extended her hand for the pop idol to shake. "May the best person emerge victorious!"_

"_Yeah… right…" Lanna mumbled as she took hold of Elise's hand and shook it. _

_The two girls took their positions on either side of the net and everyone quieted down. Elise was holding onto her one racket and a yellow tennis ball. Lanna watched as the other girl threw the ball up into the air and caught it on the way down. She looked so focused and sure of herself._

"Calm down, Lanna,"_ she coached herself. _"Just because you haven't picked up a racket doesn't mean anything."

_Just then, she saw the ball coming in her direction. She was so nervous, that she didn't even notice that Elise had served! The ball was going to her left, so she quickly moved and dived for it ungracefully, landing on the ground. The pop star heard a sound and at first thought that she had succeeded. However, it didn't, and soon discovered that the ball had landed behind her and rolled a little ways away._

_This caused some mumbling in the crowd. Lanna didn't hear what anyone was saying, and rose to her feet. Hoping that was just a minor setback, she tried again, but she missed two more times with a score of forty-love. At this point, the mumbles increased until they were loud enough for her to hear. _

"_She's not a tennis pro at all! In fact, she can't even return a simple serve!"_

"_She lied!"_

_Angry shouts could be heard from the crowd and chants of liar could be heard. Elise looked disappointed and angry, looking at the pop star with disgust. The last thing the blonde saw was Chelsea, shaking her head._

"_I told you, Lanna… but you wouldn't listen to me."_

* * *

><p>"No!" Lanna jerked upright in bed, her pink blanket drenched in sweat. The pop idol took in several, deep breaths, trying to calm down.<p>

"It… it was only a dream…," she whispered feeling relieved. "But… it was more like a nightmare…"

She looked at the side of her bed and discovered the fishing rod her grandfather had made for her. Just looking at it told her what she had to do. Even though it was difficult for her, she knew she had to set this whole thing straight. If she didn't, then her dream would become a reality! Except of course for when Vaughn would cheer for her. She doubted that would happen.

But whether or not Vaughn would do that was not the point, and she was aware of it. "If Elise is visiting… she is probably at Carol's Inn right now," she thought out loud.

Picking up the fishing rod, she headed out into the fresh air. Even though it wasn't as sunny as her dream had made it out to be, some stray clouds here and there dotted the otherwise blue sky. She took in another gulp of air and headed over to Carol's Inn, which was right next to Regis' mansion.

As soon as she entered, she found that she was getting so scared that it was as though someone let a butterfly collection loose in her tummy. But she couldn't just back out now. She looked around the Inn and found that Elise was sitting at one of the tables, either relaxing or waiting on breakfast.

Steeling what courage she had, Lanna moved over to the tennis player. "Hello, Elise."

Elise looked up and smiled. "Hello, Lanna!" she greeted. Her smile wilted to a frown, when she noticed how jumpy the blonde looked. "Are you doing okay? You don't look so well."

Lanna sighed softly. "I'm fine… well, I'm not fine really. Anyway, I wanted to come over and apologize."

"For what?" Elise asked, looking confused.

"For lying," Lanna answered. "I lied in those interviews where I said I was a tennis pro. I've never picked up a racket in my life."

"You… lied? Why?"

"Because I thought everyone would laugh," Lanna told her. "I mean, whoever heard of a pop star who knows how to fish, right?"

It was then the tennis girl noticed the rod in the blonde's hands. Seeing it was proof enough to her that Lanna was more into fishing than anything. At first, she was angry about being deceived; however, she saw the guilty expression on the pop star's face.

"My friend, Chelsea, tried to tell me that I was wrong for lying, but I didn't listen. Then last night…, I had a dream that showed me what would happen if…"

"Say no more," Elise told the girl, standing up. "While I'm not happy that you lied in those interviews, I say it takes a lot of guts to come out and tell the truth."

"You think so?" Lanna asked, still looking unsure.

"Of course," Elise replied, giving her a friendly smile. "How about we start over then? You can tell me a bit more about yourself."

A relieved expression filled Lanna's face. "Of course!" she chirped. As the two girls sat at the table, and she was getting ready to tell the tennis girl what she is really like, she smiled to herself. She was certain that Chelsea would be proud of her for telling the truth.

And for the first time since her friend had left the night before, huge weights lifted from her shoulders. It made the pop star idol feel light. It was a feeling that she was sure that she would never forget.


End file.
